Filed under: Meal Planning
Last couple of weeks of summer, where there is no semblance of routine and I start to get twitchy.
Monday: Whole roasted chicken, steamed peas, plain pasta (like a meal for an invalid, but the boys liked it!)
Tuesday: Baked Ziti, salad, dinner rolls
Wednesday: Cobb salad (with leftover chicken from Monday), whole wheat baguette
Thursday: Spaghetti and Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs, farm share veggies
Friday: Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken (& tofu), grilled corn, tomato & basil salad, challah
Saturday: Eat out
Sunday: J. grills
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
August 16, 2010
I am still kicking myself for not attending BlogHer this past weekend — right here in my backyard. I had thought about buying tickets many months ago, but then hit a lull in my posting here and decided I wasn’t doing enough work to deserve the ticket. We happened to be in Manhattan on Saturday anyway, taking the boys to the USS Intrepid. I ran into Susan from Busy Bee Lifestyle in a parking garage (she was attending the conference), and those 15 seconds of conversation made me feel more than ever that I’d missed out. I mentioned my regret to J., and he said we could always make a family vacation out of next year’s conference in San Diego. I just might hold him to it!
The kids have finished camp, and today we’re spending our first do-nothing, proper summer vacation day. I’m going to pack a lunch for us and head to the pool. But, the rest of our week is more scheduled. The boys are spending some time at grandparents, and we have some fun reasons to eat out of the house this week, including the wedding of one of J.’s cousins! Happy reasons to not need to cook.
Monday: Roasted chicken with potatoes, sauteed swiss chard (inspired by the dinner Lauren made for us last week)
Tuesday: Order in or go out
Wednesday: Potluck dinner — I’m bringing Corn and Goat Cheese Grits and Watermelon Margaritas
Thursday: Bagels, Dijon Egg Salad, sliced cheese, sliced farm share tomatoes + cucumbers, salad
Friday: At a wedding!
Saturday: Grilled pizza with farm share vegetables
Sunday: Eat out
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
August 9, 2010
This week I made a delicious Roasted Squash & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad, Slow Cooker Ratatouille (perfect if you have an over-producing garden or get a lot of vegetables from a CSA), and Corn and Basil Cakes.
I also baked oatmeal cookies with Heath bits inside (Oatmeal Toffee Cookies) and thought they were OK. J. said they were like “oatmeal raisin cookies without the raisins,” which translates to mean “better than no cookies at all, but barely.” The boys liked them well enough, but they’re not a repeat recipe for us.
Monday: Pizza play date
Tuesday: Spicy Chicken with Cashews, rice, steamed sesame green beans
Wednesday: Pan-fried gnocchi and swiss chard with Parmesan cheese (bumped from last week)
Thursday: Grilled teriyaki-marinated skirt steak, farm share veggies (corn & greens?), dinner rolls
Friday: Kids are eating out/ leftovers for me and J.
Saturday: J. grills (grilled pizza?) plus farm share veggies
Sunday: Eat out
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
August 2, 2010
My sister got married on Sunday! When I think about the wedding, I see smiling faces everywhere — it was that type of day, where everyone is thrilled to be celebrating the union of two people they love.
Needless to say, I was busy getting ready for the big day last week. I did, however, get to make a nice Spicy Cabbage Slaw, Kalyn’s Mujadarra, and even a couple of swiss chard quiches. I’ll be posting those recipes tonight or tomorrow.
Monday: Corn and Basil Cakes, cheese, salad
Tuesday: Leftover Corn and Basil Cakes, leftover (frozen) smoked brisket, cucumber salad
Wednesday: Swiss chard & gnocchi with Parmesan, steamed green beans
Thursday: Slow Cooker Ratatouille, pasta, fresh mozzarella or ricotta
Friday: Grilled bone-in chicken pieces, challah, farm share veggies
Saturday: Order in or go out
Sunday: J. grills meat + veg
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
July 27, 2010
We have a busy schedule this week, and instead of a day-by-day plan I just have some general ideas of what I’ll be cooking.
I baked two quiches (with sauteed swiss chard and Gruyere) tonight; one I’ll freeze and the other will be served cold with a Asian cabbage slaw on Tuesday night, after the pool. We’ll have pasta salad with a side of sliced cucumbers another night. And I hope to get a chance to try out turkey burgers on the grill, now that I know I can turn it on successfully! Otherwise there will be a little more Annie’s mac and cheese and eating out this week than usual — the boys’ favorite kind of meal plan!
July 19, 2010
Summer seems to be slipping away. I had a lot of big (and small) ideas about what I wanted to accomplish this summer, with the boys off to camp for much of the day. Between preparing for my sister’s wedding this month (yay!) and managing some construction we’re doing, plus the usual running of a household, I seem to fill up my days without ever getting to my projects list.
One thing I did want to challenge myself to this summer: learn to use the freakin’ grill already. J. is so good at grilling that I have never bothered learning. My dear friend Suzanne is the grillmaster in her family, and I am inspired by her. So this Thursday, the grill is on. I have to start somewhere, and as the summer rolls on by I hope to at least cross this “to do” off my very long list.
Monday: Leftovers (plus made a pasta salad for J. to eat during the week)
Tuesday: Leftover grilled vegetables, Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing, sliced cheese, hummus, rolls
Wednesday: Marinated Tofu with Cabbage, Carrots, & Noodles (I’m going to add in some spring turnips, and keep the noodles separate for the boys)
Thursday: Basil Green Beans with Tomatoes, grilled chicken breasts, dinner rolls
Friday: Mujadarra, roasted chicken, farm share veggies, challah (bumped from last week)
Saturday: Order in or go out
Sunday: J. grills meat + veg
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
July 13, 2010
There is minimal cooking going on in these parts. In fact, if it were not for the CSA vegetables I might not have cooked a thing this past week. Between salads at lunch, a couple of quick sautes at dinner, and J. grilling up a bunch of vegetables on the weekend, we are doing a good job of keeping up with the share.
Monday: J. grills steaks and vegetables
Tuesday: Smashed Chickpea, Basil, and Radish Dip (from Martha Stewart Living, not online yet), whole wheat pita, salad
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Order in pizza, I’ll make a salad
Friday: Mujadarra, roasted chicken, challah
Saturday: Eat out or J. grills/smokes
Sunday: Whatever we didn’t do for Saturday dinner
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
July 5, 2010
I might actually cook this week…
Monday: Cashew Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Dressing, leftover steak,
Tuesday: Swiss Chard & Gruyère Frittata, bagels, leftover slaw
Wednesday: Meatless Pasta Pie, farm share veggies
Thursday: Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken with Pineapple, tortillas, rice, farm share veggies
Friday: Chicken soup (from the freezer) with noodles, challah, sugar snap peas
Saturday: Out to eat
Sunday: Happy 4th! BBQ at my parent’s house
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
June 27, 2010
Earlier in the week I tried my hand at baking Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookies. This is one of those recipes that lots of food bloggers seem to be trying, and although mine were tasty you couldn’t tell that they had unique ingredients (like potato chips!) in them.
Yesterday, I met my dear friend LP in the city and we based our day around getting the real deal cookie from Milk Bar. Their Compost Cookie was a disappointment — mine was soggy, and although I could taste the coffee grounds in it, there really wasn’t much of an identifiable flavor other than SWEET. It made me feel better about the cookies I’d baked — I thought their flavor was better even though mine spread way too much and weren’t attractive.
We did both enjoy the salty pistachio ice cream, though it is so rich that neither of us came close to finishing our servings. (And, over the hour or so that we lingered with our treats in the mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel mezzanine lounge, which is connected to the bakery, the ice cream did. not. melt. It softened slightly, but we were both puzzled by its staying power. And a little grossed out by it — could it have been thickened with food starch so it held its shape as it warmed up? We couldn’t figure it out.
I’m doing my volunteer stint at the Roxbury Farm share pick-up site this week, so if you’re also a member please say hi!
Monday: Leftover sauteed kale, spinach, and garlic scapes over pasta, Parmesan cheese
Tuesday: Spicy Hummus with farm share parsley with radishes, lettuce, and tomatoes, bagels, turnip salad (loosely based on Spring Turnip Salad)
Wednesday: Out to dinner
Thursday: Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs, pasta, farm share veggies
Friday: Chicken soup (from the freezer) with noodles, challah, sugar snap peas
Saturday: Smoked Beef Ribs, baked potatoes, farm share veggies
Sunday: “Pasta Extravaganza” for Father’s Day, our family is coming here — still deciding what additional pasta dish to make along with Baked Ziti, garden salad, and garlic bread
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie, and Jenna, who sponsors Mindful Menus, a menu-planning meme that aims “to inspire health through real food” at Chive Talkin’.
June 13, 2010
Our farm share starts Wednesday! The pick up is in a new location and there will be a lot more people picking up shares, so I hope it is still kid-friendly. The boys already told me they are looking forward to jumping off the stone wall when we pick up our veggies (it was along the driveway of our previous share pick-up spot) — they only know the old spot and keep forgetting we’ll be someplace new. Good thing they’re not driving there.
With the farm share starting my plan will have to be more flexible, changing based on what we receive. I am looking forward to this year’s share dragging me back into more inspired, vegetable-centric cooking. On that note, I’m linking up to Mindful Menus again this week, too.
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Turkey meatballs in sauce with ziti, chopped salad (romaine, celery, carrots, grape tomatoes)
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Ratatouille (from the freezer), angel hair pasta, fresh mozzarella
Thursday: Panko-crusted baked chicken breasts, sauteed green beans, dinner rolls
Friday: Order in
Saturday: Breakfast for dinner: pancakes or eggs (scrambled with farm share veggies?)
Sunday: J.’s grilling, farm share veggies
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
June 7, 2010
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 